Sponge electrode



y ,1 F-. H. WAPPLER ET AL 1,769,090

- SPONGE ELECTRODE Fi led May 25, 3

ATTORNEY blisters Patented July 1 1930 FREDERICK H. 'WAPPLEnj on rrnsriiive,

AND 1 WI LIA Loos, or Jamaic new YORK, ASSIGNORS TO WAPPLERVELECTRIC COMIAN-Y, 1INO.,1:0I LONG "ISLANDCITYJ,

NEW YOBKAconronnrronor EW YORK in SPONGE ELEc'rnoDn Our invention relates to sponge electrodes that i s,'to electrodes having-1a flexible pad member of insulating'material and made preferably of soft rubber, in connection with 'aflexible sheet-like member made of con ducting material and used as. air electrode, 05 applying electric currents to the human 5 I More particularly stated, weseek toproduce an electrode of this general type, es pecially adapted: for applying ,electrijcg'currents of various kinds, and including high frequency currents; directly to the human skin without danger of producing "burns or ,Land without causing" disagreeable sensations to the'patient; 5 I vAs is well known in thisart, the applica- Ltion of electric currents directly to the skin of a patient, so as to 'produce'resultsentirely satisfactoryis amatter'iof some difficulty.

While heretofore it has been common practice to'use electrodes for applying to the skin both direct and interrupted galvanic currents and also faradic currents,'and

in some instances high freque cy oscillating currents, not every, electrode has been-suit able forthese purposes.

* Generally speaking, it is "a dittcmlfimntr to apply an electrode to the human skin so as to obtain anything like constant, uniform or dependable conditions of operation.

This is generally true even when the electrode, where in "contact with the skin, is

gmoiste'ned, as is usually the-case. Ordinarily when the electrode is made flexible as for instance when'itisconstructed of wire netting, thin sheet metal or the like,

"and supportedsupon afl'exible body of in- 'sulating material -;such as rubber or felt,

there is difficulty in sterilizing or otherwise cleaning the electrode, without disengaging it from its mounting. Andyetffor-sanitary reasons, it is desirable to remove theelec-i trode from its mounting, in order toclean g each of these parts.

By our invention we seek to reduce to a minimum the variousidrawbac'ks above mentioned, and to improve the; efficiency oft-he electrode, 0'

Further, wej provide our mproved-elecher, "to

n use.

1928. Serial is, 280,444."

trodesfwith a metallic bridg for facilitat- 1* ing theuse of theelectrode in connection with a belt or other flexible siipporting mem 'We also provide our electrode vwith mul tlple connectors having the form of eyes ,and

hold tliefelectrode v in position" while used like binding posts, arranged to reduce "to a minimum the number of cord conductors required for connecting the electrode for electrodes in different ways. .{By giving the 1 connectors the form of spring eyesand mak ing them fiat, they. are prevented;fromjpro jecting outwardly to any appreciable extent,

so that a patient can lie upon them without iscomfort. ,f "3: i

1 Reference is made tothe accompany n'g drawingforining a partofthis-specification, i and in which like referencechara ctersindir cate like parts throughout the severalfig ures.

.Figure'l is a side elevation of one formof 7 one way of connecting itwith a conductor through whichthe currents'are supplied: 7 'F gureZ 1s a plan View ofthe mechan sm ShOWn in Figure 1.

, our improved sponge electrode, and shows 1 Figure 3 isafsectiono-n the off 1 Figure l,' looking in direction indicated ing a portion of the fleXib conductingband. T a Y Figure 6 "isan elevation showing your sponge electrode as held :in

or band for the purpose;

tionfof the 'fiexible conducting band used for supplying the electric currents; A pad member of shown at 10 and in this instance comprises position by a belt Figure 7 is-a fragmentaryplan of a po-r-" "a body of porous rubberll, carrying an' un brokeniskin' 12 "of soft rubber as'its outer surface. This pad member 10 is preferably an ordinary rubber sponge, of a kind commonly,usecl infhospitals; and soldfrom most drug stores. Such a rubber sponge is practically water tight, as no water can soak through the outer. skin.

Encircling the pad member is a flexible band 13 of conducting'material, the structure of which is indicated more particularly 1 in Figure 7. Links 8, made of metal, are

held'togetherby metallic rings 9;;and thus isformed an articulated fabric, made 'entirely of metal, and all parts of which are conducting. The material thus used may be of the kind known as silversmiths stock.

, ,The connecting plate 16 is used to span overthe distance from one of the hooks 15 to the other. Inv practicethe band 13 is i firstjbent around the pad member 10, the

connecting plate 16 is next brougl'itinto such 2 position that one' of the reverting edges 17 member is squeezed slightly by hand and;

' considerable amount of flexibility. This is ts'into one of the hooks 15, and then the opposite hook l5 is-brought into engagement ,with the other revertmg edge 17.

In order to remove the band 13, the pad thuscompressed, and one of the 'hooks 15 v is thereupon slipped out of engagement w th theadjacent reverting edge 17. This disconnects the band from the pad member 10. Mounted upon the connecting plate 16 is La bridge; 18 of metal, and carried by this upon a small base 20, as indicated bridge is a binding post 19, detachably fitted more particularly in Figure 8.

- A contact pin 21, carried by a cord conductor 22, is detachably fitted into the binding post 19, and is used for connecting the cord with the electrode, and disconnecting thesametherefrom. In some 1nst-ances1t is desirable to connect'theconducting cord 22 with one end .ofthe connecting plate 16, as shownmore particularly in Figure 5. For this purpose we provideends of the bridge 18 with eyes 23 so that the contact pin 21 may be readily thrustthrough these eyes.

By providing two sets of eyes 23, the cord conductor 22 may be connected with either end of the bridge 18, and thus practically with either edge of the band 13 of conductingmaterial,

v In some instances we find desirable to simplypress the electrode against the skin of the part to be treated. In other instances the electrode is placed under the arm or under the chin of the patient and thus held in position. i

, It issometimes desirable however, to hold the electrode in position by aid of a belt or band, as shown in Figure 6. Here the belt or band is slipped beneath the bridge 18, brought around, and fastened'in any approp'riatewvay. In the particular instance illustrated in Figure 6, the electrode is applied to a leg 25 by means, of the band or belt 2&.- Of course, a belt or band around the waist, neck or other part of the patients body may be used as occasion requires.

We'find' in practice that the sponge electrode above described can be used in quite a variety of different ways, in such man- 'ner as to produce different results.

It is desirable to give the' fiexible band 13 inaterial'a relatively large area as compared with the total area of the. rubber sponge or other pad member 10. By this arrangement the available operating surface of the electrode is rendered quite large, and hence it is not necessary to pass so much current through a given area of skin. Thus the tendency to burn or blister the skin, or to produce unpleasant I sensations therein, is greatly reduced. Again, by having the operating surface relatively large, the tendencyfor the currentsto dry out the moisture of the skin, orthe artificial'moisture employed with the electrode, is also greatly reduced, and this is a result looking toward uniformity of action.

The sponge electrode as a whole has a due to the fact that the rubber sponge is practically always exceedingly flexible and quence of its construction above described and particularly illustrated in Figure 7, is

exceedinglyfiexible. I I A V The net result is thatthe electrodeas a whole may be easily and quickly and yet accurately, brought into conformity with almost any portion of the human body to which the electrode is required to be'fitted, in order to insure an equal distribution of currentthroughout the area to be oper ated upon. v

IVe do not limit ourselves to the particular mechanism here illustrated and described, as variations may be made therein without departing from our invention, the

elastic, and themetallic band 13, in conse r said band detachably in position upon said pad member, a bridge mounted upon said connecting plate, a flexible member threaded through said bridge in order to i hold said pad member against some part of the human body, and means for connecting a conductor with said first mentioned band member;

3. In a device of the character described the combination ofa pad member, a flexible bandof metallicwebbing for engaging said padmember, said band having end portions provided with hooks, a connectingplate provided with portions for engaging said hooks in order to hold said metallic webbing upon said pad member, and electrical connections carried by said connecting plates,

4. In a device of the character described the combination of a pad member a flexible band of conducting material engaging said pad member and provided with hooks, a connecting plate provided with portions for engaging said hooks in order to hold said flexible band detachably in position upon said pad member, and electrical connections carried by said connecting plate.

5. The combination of a rubber sponge having a body portion of porous rubber covered with an unbroken skin, of soft rubber, a flexible band of conducting material mounted upon said unbroken skin of soft rubber, and means for supplying electric currents to said-flexible ban 6. The combination of a pad member provided with a porous body portion and a skin'covering said porous body portion and integral therewith so as to render the same practically water tight, and a flexible band of conducting material encircling said pad member and detachable relatively thereto.

7. A sponge electrode comprising a rubber sponge provided with a skin of soft rubber integral with said rubber sponge,'and a flexible band of conducting-material detachably mounted upon said skin of soft rubber and made up of separate metallic links connected together and directly engaging said skin of soft rubber. I o

8. A device of the character described,

I comprising a rubber sponge provided with a skin of soft rubber integral therewith, a band of silversmiths stock carried by said rubber sponge and engaging the skin of soft rubber, and means for connecting an electric conductor with said member of silversmiths stock.

9. The combination of a pad member, 'a.

flexible band of conducting material engaging said pad member, mechanism connected with the ends of said band and together with said band normally encircling said pad member, and connections for supplying electric current to said band. v

10. The combination of a pad member of insulating material, a flexible band of conducting material engaging said pad member and provided with end portions, a metallic member detachably connected with said end portions and together with said band normally encircling said pad member for .the purpose of detachably holding said flexible member upon said pad member, and electrical connections carried by said metallic member.

11. In a device of the character described from said pad member, a connecting plate,

means for detachably connecting. said connecting plate with the ends of said flexible band in order to hold said flexible band detachably in position upon said pad member by frictional engagement therewith, and electric connections carried by said connecting'plate. Q

,12.. The combination of a'pad'member of insulating material, a flexible member of conducting material engaging said pad member and serving as anelectrode, fastening members carried by said flexible member, a connecting plate made of conducting material and provided with fastening members for detachably engaging {said flexible member, so as to hold said band thereupon by frictional engagement, and electrical connections for said connecting plate. v

FREDERICK H. WAPPLER. WILLIAM LOOS. I 

